


What Are You Talking About?

by sharpiemarkie



Series: The Weight of Living [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 30 Days of Writing, Accusation, Cook-Off, Crushes, F/M, Fights, Fluff, Friendship, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Reader-Insert, Relationship Advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 16:18:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2514107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharpiemarkie/pseuds/sharpiemarkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Number 2 of a series written to prompts of the 30 Days of Writing Challenge.</p><p>Based on the canon events of Attack on Titan, this part of the ongoing series of reader-insert one shots that deal with the growth of the relationship between the Reader and Jean Kirschtein through their training days on out. Sharing the same desire to make it into the Military Police, the two quickly become friends (along with Marco!) and work hard to make it into the top ten when they graduate.</p><p>Prompt: Accusation</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Are You Talking About?

**Author's Note:**

> This one became WAYYYYY longer than I intended, but I think I accomplished what I wanted to go along with the prompt. Also, this one shot is based on the second OVA, just to let you all know. Not only that, there's a time skip from the first one shot of 2 years, so now Jean and the Reader are now at age 17. Hope everyone enjoys it!

            It’s hard to believe how quickly two years pass when you look back on it. The 104th Trainees Squad has shed blood, sweat, and tears to mold ourselves into formidable soldiers willing to give up our lives for the service of the king and humanity. At last, we’ve come to the final stretch with only one year left until the finals and not too far after that will be our graduation. Now that we have already learned all we need to know, we’ve finally reached the point where we start to hone in on our skills. The instructors had been telling us that there may be another attack in the upcoming future from the titans, so we’ve been doing the best we can to get better.

            To help prepare us even more for the upcoming attack, the instructors are taking us up into the Trost District to practice maneuvering within cities and improve our kill count with our fake wooden titans. We were going to split off into teams to practice teamwork as well, which will help a lot once we decide what corps that we will go into. Once we finally reach Trost, us trainees will split into our teams and then wait for further instruction for when our drills start.

            Right now, we had just cleared the gate that led into Trost from Wall Rose and I was walking alongside my two best friends, Marco and Jean, into the city. Armin was on the other side of Jean while Connie Springer and Sasha Braus, two other trainees I’ve become friends with, were walking ahead of us and it looked like they were enjoying the view.

            “This is awesome!” Connie exclaimed, “I’ve never been in one of the walled cities before!”

            “There will be lots of tasty food here to eat!” Sasha cheered as well.

            “Hey you two!” Jean called up to them to get their attention. When the girl and boy turned around, he continued, “If you join the city guard, you can stay here as long as you like. I’ll come and visit to see how you’re doing when I’m in the Military Police!”

Jean threw his head back to chortle while the other two looked slightly exasperated back at him.

            “Hey Jean, where exactly is your house?” Armin questioned.

            “Yeah Jean. I’d like to know too,” I smiled. It would be nice to see where he grew up at and maybe meet his family.

            “Does it really matter?” he replied agitatedly. Well that deflated my mood.

            “Aren’t you going to visit home while we’re here?” asked Marco, “Thomas Wagner said he was planning to.”

            “Your mom would be happy to see you,” the blond boy told him.

            “Shut up! Just drop it, ok?” Jean snapped back, causing us all to fall silent.

            God, why does he have to be such a pompous ass all the time? We were just being polite and asking about his family. You’d think he’d straighten up after being in military training for two years, but no. He still treats his closest friends like we shouldn’t know anything about him. If I was in his shoes right now, I would be so happy to go home to see my parents. Oh how I wish they were still alive…

            What makes what Jean did even worse was that even though he, Marco, and I grew very close as friends over the last few years, I ended up developing this huge-ass crush on that stupid copper-haired boy. Because of that, I’m always confused about my emotions when Jean starts acting this way since I don’t know if I want to yell at him, cry from how he’s treating me, or just let it rest. Honestly, I wish I never had been burdened with this type of affection for Jean since I know that he’ll never see me as anything more than a friend. That’s why I won’t tell anyone. Every single time a sliver of hope presents itself that maybe he likes me more too, I end up catching him eyeing Mikasa like she’s a goddess or something and I know I can’t compete with that. She excels at everything and I’m just barely close enough to be considered as part of the top ten.

            Anyways, now that Jean had shut us up, Marco, Armin, and I followed his lead into Trost where our instructors wanted us to report to before our practice drill. Once we reached Instructor Shadis, he already went ahead and yelled out our instructions for the day and which squads we were assigned to. Our wooden practice targets were placed around the whole city and we were to kill and assist other squad members’ kills on as many targets as we could before the drill was over. Of course the squad that I was put in had to be Jean’s, but at least Armin and Annie Leonhardt were with us as well.

            “Alright you three,” Jean addressed us, “Focus on getting as many kills as you can, but if you don’t think you can move fast enough before other people get the target, call me over if I’m near.”

            “So basically you just want to get all our kill points,” I pointed out, making Jean roll his eyes at me. I was in the mood to give him a hard time since he was acting like an ass to me, Marco, and Armin earlier.

            “You get points for assists too you know! I was just offering my help since I’m skilled with the 3DMG,” he defensively replied.

            “Sure that’s what you mean…”

            Jean was just about to shout something back at me, but Armin decided to pipe up and stop us from getting into an argument.

            “Guys, please don’t start this now. The bell’s about to ring any second now.”

            Just as Armin had said that, the bell rung loud across the town and all of us cadets sprang into action. Below us, the citizens of Trost began to evacuate the city and head towards the gates that lead into Wall Rose. We started off scaling across the rooftops on foot with Jean leading Armin, Annie, and I in the search for the fake wooden titans.

            “Jean! Are you sure we’re allowed to push up this far?” Armin asked just as Jean gave us a new command, “Our objective is to deal with the titans that make it through the front line!”

            “Stop being so inflexible!” Jean hollered back, “We’re soldiers which means we kill titans!”

            Once we reached the end of the roof, the four of us jumped in the air and pulled our blades out so we were ready to activate our 3DMG.

            “It seems all you want to do is score more brownie points,” Annie nonchalantly replied just before flying off.

            With that, we all took off through the skies of Trost, keeping our eyes peeled out for titans. Though I have to admit, having Jean as our leader isn’t too much of a bad thing. He’s pretty good at it for one and secondly, it gives me an excuse to stare at that gorgeous, firm ass of his without being caught...

            God, I really need to focus on our mission and not Jean’s ass.

            “There’s one!” Jean called out as we turned onto another street, “He’s mine!”

            Suddenly, Mikasa shot out from nowhere and sliced up the fake titan’s nape in the blink of the eye, causing all of us to halt in place for a moment. My gaze went over to Jean to see his reaction for getting beaten to the kill and all he did was smirk amusingly.

            _Of course you’d let that slide. Anything for your doll,_ I thought bitterly. _If it was I who killed the titan, you’d bite my head off._

            “Guys! This way!” Jean’s voice broke me out of my thoughts and we maneuvered to the right. There were a lot more fake titans set up on the street over and we sped up to kill them. Then our leader yelled out again, “I’ll get one this time!”

            The four of us pushed forward. I went off to the left to take care of a titan on that side while the others stayed moving forward. Suddenly, I heard the voice of Connie break through the sound of our 3DMG and the whole squad looked in his direction.

            “As always, thank you Jean!”

            Connie grinned as he flew above Jean’s head and executed the titan that Jean was aiming for. Jean growled when he had to quickly change directions to go after a different titan that was in the group in the street.

            “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Jean yelled angrily once he turned back around, but suddenly two more titans got killed right before him.

            “Sorry Jean!” the tank-like blond boy, Reiner Braun, apologized after making his kill. The second kill was made by Sasha and she was on the other side of the street cheering. Connie praised his best friend for her kill afterwards. By this time, all the fake titans in the area had their napes tore up, so my squad finally decided to land back on the ground. I was pretty happy I got at least one kill in and Armin and Annie didn’t really seem to care much at all how the rest of this went since we went against orders, but I could tell Jean was livid. He looked like he could rip his hair off any second from now. I decided to just let him be. He probably was already mad at me for earlier and I really didn’t want to deal with his tantrum right now, so I just went over to Armin. We were going to walk back to the rendezvous point together to get something to eat for lunch.

* * *

 

            “That was playing dirty and you know it, you thieving bastards!”

            I picked up on Jean’s voice across Main Street while I was talking with a kind lady who gave me some fresh fruit to eat for lunch. Oh Lord, I seriously hope he’s not going to pick a fight with anyone right now. Where was Marco when I need him?

            Deciding that maybe if I tried to talk sense into Jean, he might just leave whoever he was yelling at alone, I made my way through the crowd to find him. I followed his shouts until I finally reached him and saw that he, Sasha, and Connie were about to get into a fight. Apparently, Jean had brought up the nickname of Sasha’s that she despised; Potato girl.

            “Don’t call me names!” Sasha screamed.

            “Yeah! Apologize to her!” Connie raised his voice up to Jean as well. I knew Jean wasn’t one to apologize for things he says, so I ran up and grabbed his left arm to hold him back. Jean looked back at me in confusion for holding him.

            “Please don’t get in a fight with them Jean,” I pleaded, “It’s not worth it.”

            “[First]’s right,” Reiner spoke up. He had been standing nearby and had saw the whole thing, “For starters, that area was our zone Jean.”

            “Yeah, exactly!” Connie yelled in agreement, “You know, you’re acting kinda weird today, shouting all out of the blue at us like that.” Then the boy began to baby-talk to Jean, “Are you itching to go see Mommy?”  
           

            “Is that it?” Sasha asked with wide eyes.

            “AS IF!”

            Suddenly, Jean ripped his arm away from me and reared back, getting ready to hurl a punch in either Sasha’s or Connie’s direction. The two reacted just as fast though and jumped into their odd battle stances. I seriously thought the three of them were going to fight until Reiner tried to calm the duo against Jean down.

            “Stop it, you two,” he told them just before he turned to Jean, “You too, Jean. You won’t make it into the Military Police like this.”

            “Tch,” Jean straightened himself back up and then said, “When we finish our training tomorrow, we’ll settle this. Then everyone will know who can take out the more targets.”

            “Interesting!” an older voice exclaimed, causing us all to turn to our left to see who had said that. All around us, cadets scrambled around to stand in salute, creating a path so that the man could come through. Suddenly, we all realized that it was Dot Pixis, Commander of the Garrison Regiment stationed at Trost. Quickly, the five of us saluted him as he walked closer to talk to us.  As soon as he made it over, he then addressed Jean.

            “Your fighting spirit is certainly commendable. However, using a training exercise to win an argument is unacceptable,” Pixis paused to take a swig from his flask, “You should fight by cooking.”

            With that, Connie, Sasha, and Jean all leaned forward, like they couldn’t believe what the old man had just said.

            “Pardon?” Jean asked the commander.

            “Fight by cooking!” Pixis repeated himself louder. The copper-haired boy’s mouth fell open in disbelief as the brunette girl’s face lit up in joy.

            “Cooking?”

            “That’s right. Cooking,” confirmed Pixis, “A cook-off, to be exact!”

            With that, everyone on Main Street began question why Pixis would say something like that. Maybe he had too much to drink this time. I for one thought it was a brilliant idea. Anyone can slice through a target, but it takes something special to actually cook a good meat.

            “I-I don’t mean to be rude Commander Pixis, but we’re soldiers,” Jean said, “Cooking isn’t something we do on a daily basis and-”

            Suddenly, Sasha shoved the potato that she was holding in Jean’s face, shutting him up for the moment.

            “Jean, how much do you even know about cooking?” she questioned.

            “Exactly!” Connie jumped into the conversation, “I bet your mom always cooked for you at home!”

            The girl lowered the potato and then added, “I will teach you the true art of cooking, my boy,” and then she took a big bite of her potato. The two stared each other down with angry glares for a moment until Jean balled up his fists.

            “Fine, let’s do this! Cooking, cleaning… throw whatever you want at me. If I win, you bet be staying out of my way forever, Potato Girl!”

            With that, Pixis grinned, “Good! The battle will take place tonight. Both of you will cook and serve a main course for dinner. Bring your best dish to the table!”

            Everyone burst into cheers of excitement. It’s been a long time since people had seen a good tournament and we were finally getting to watch Sasha and Jean battle it out tonight with their best meals. The whole crowd was definitely planning on being there tonight to see how it all turns out. Pleased with how the argument has unfolded to, Sasha happily grabbed Connie and the two began running off to plan something with Reiner in tow. Jean, on the other hand, looked like he was even more livid than before. As much as Sasha loved food, she probably knew the best way to cook everything and he was probably thinking that nothing he could make could amount to it.

            Jean stood in the same spot for a moment and let his anger ebb away. It also looked as if he may even have an idea on what he might do for the cook-off as well. I stayed where I was and waited silently to see if he might need my help or something. I figured that since Sasha’s getting help from her team members, maybe Jean would ask for our help too.

            I had just turned around to leave when I felt lithe fingers wrap around my left wrist, successfully keeping me in my place. I turned around to find Jean standing before me with a hopeful expression on his face.

            “Hey [First], would you uh… mind helping me with making my dish?” he asked me almost hesitantly.

            “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean that I’m going to make it for you Jean,” I simply replied.

            “No, no! I meant like getting supplies and stuff,” Jean explained, “Would you?”

            “I don’t know…” I was being indecisive on purpose to see how far he’ll go for my help.

            “Oh c’mon [First]. Sasha’s working with her squad and I can’t do this all by myself!”

            “…”

            “Please [First]! I really don’t want to have to beg out here!”

            I thought about it for a few seconds more before replying, “Alright. I guess I’ll help you Jean.”

            Relief washed over his tense face and he gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat. God, why is he so handsome? Much more, why does he have to like Mikasa?

            “Thank you so much!” he told me just before motioning me to follow him, “Let’s go find the rest of our team now. I think I got a plan that might work.”

            “Alright,” I joined my friend and we walked together around Main Street to round up Armin and Annie.

* * *

 

            Outside of town, Jean, Armin, Annie, and I were on our horses, riding our way through the fields to reach the woods that were closest to Trost. Since Jean was the one who knew his way around here, he led our group in our journey there. On our backs, we carried loaded muskets and our 3D Maneuvering gear for what I guess would be for hunting. Jean hadn’t really told us why we were going out to the woods yet.

            “Alright! It’s in sight!” yelled Jean as we got closer to the woods.

            “Why are we hunting?” Annie asked, not amused as always.

            “Not much we can do Annie. We have to work together as a squad,” Armin replied.

            “C’mon guys, Sasha’s got her squad helping her out. If she wins, we might all look bad, so let’s help Jean out,” I tried to get them to feel more enthusiastic about our situation, “It’s better to have tried than done nothing at all.”

            As I looked forward again, I noticed that Jean was looking back over his shoulder at me with a proud smirk. Luckily, he faced forward again before he got a chance to see my blushing face and happy grin.

            “I used to play in that forest as a kid,” the copper-haired boy told us as we got closer, “It’s where the infamous Colossal Boar lives. If we can capture it and serve it up as meat tonight, victory will be ours.”

            “What about practicing your cooking technique?” Armin questioned Jean, “Isn’t that what this whole contest is about?”  
            “I don’t have time to think about that!” he responded.

            “Well, isn’t this a coincidence?” A female voice sounded to the right of us. We all looked over in shock to find that Sasha, Connie, and Reiner were all on horses and riding in the same direction towards the forest as us.

            “You guys…Why the hell are you here?” Jean was pretty agitated again.

            “Sasha’s nose caught the scent of some prime meat,” Reiner replied, making Sasha grin happily.

            “I’m not gonna to let you take all the meat for yourself!” she growled just before spurring her horse to go faster. Her two squad members followed her lead and moved ahead as well.

            “Dammit!” muttered Jean.

            “Let’s go Jean! This is your backyard, right?” Armin encouraged him, “We have the upper hand!”

            “Armin’s right,” I agreed, “With you leading us, there’s no doubt we’ll be able to catch up to the boar before they do!”

            “Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s get that boar!”

* * *

 

            After reaching the woods and mounting our horses, Jean led us into the forest to start our search for the huge boar. For the first few minutes, everything seemed to be going well. Jean was making note of where certain landmarks were in the forest and was directing us into the direction that he knew would lead to where the boar usually stayed at. Annie, Armin, and I gladly followed him, but after a while, it seemed as if we were somehow getting back on the same path as we once took. The surrounding landmarks seemed to be getting awfully familiar, but Jean, being a typical male, insisted that he knew where he was going.

            Once we had been walking in the woods for a good amount of time, Armin finally had the courage to be the first one to ask Jean if he really knew what he was doing.

            “Jean? We’re not lost, are we?”

            “No.”

            “But I swear we’ve passed that t-“

            “No, we fucking haven’t!” Jean yelled. Then he pointed ahead to a tree that had a big gash through it that I knew we have seen before, “Look! This tree. You might’ve seen a mark like this before, but we’re definitely closing it on it now!”

            With that, Armin and I just looked at Jean with serious bitch faces as Annie stayed disinterested in what he said at all. Did he really think we were buying that crap that he actually knew where he was going now? Oh God, today was going to be long as hell.

            After following Jean around for a while longer, we still did not come across anything that resembled some huge-ass boar. We found a clearing for once though and decided to see if we could see anything from standing over the ledge. As soon as we made it out of the woods though, a loud roar boomed below us followed by the sounds of gun shots and trees falling. As soon as we realized what had happened, Jean hollered out in frustration while we gasped.

            “Fuck my life! They got to the boar!” Jean growled.

            “We can still catch up to it though!” I told him, “Let’s use our 3DMG to get there now!”

            Pulling the triggers fast, the four of us began to fly our way through the forest until we finally caught up to the angry boar running rampage. Sure enough, Sasha, Connie, and Reiner were hot on its tail. I’m actually quite impressed that they were able to be that close to it.

            “It’s fast!” Armin shouted, “We’ll never catch up to it!”

            “Just use more gas!” I hollered back.

            With my suggestion, our squad actually was able to fly up ahead of the boar. By this time, Sasha was clinging tightly to the overgrown pig and was climbing up to get to its head. She looked as if she was in some crazed state being around all this meat and it was quite a bit freaky. Armin pulled out a handful of potatoes to see if that might distract her for a moment, but it didn’t work. She continued to climb the boar until she had a perfect shot to put an arrow through its skull.

            As soon as that arrow left Sasha’s bow, the hunt was over. The running boar came to a halting stop and tumbled over with its fat ass up in the air. Jean and I landed in a nearby tree and stared at the dead Colossal Boar with gaping mouths. How the hell did that one measly arrow take down that ginormous pig just like that?

* * *

 

            By the time we got back to town, the sun was already setting. I stood beside Jean as Sasha, Connie, and Reiner brought the dead boar through the streets, earning cheers from all the people of Trost. Annie and Armin were off to my right, staring at all the commotion that was happening. It seemed as though Jean was fuming more and more by the minute and as soon as the boar was out of his sight, he let it all out.

            “For fuck’s sake!” he screamed, “What the fuck am I even going to fix to top off fucking boar meat!?!”

            “Hey,” I spoke calmly as I reached out for his arms and held on to his biceps, “Take a deep breath Jean.”

            Jean glared at me for a moment before finally doing what I said and it helped alleviate some of his anger. When he had significantly calmed down, I decided to drop my hands and continue talking to him.

            “We still have some time left to plan out something. Do you know how to cook anything else?”

            “Of course I do. It’s just probably not going to be as good as it would have been to have served some boar meat,” Jean told me as he avoided my gaze. He looked as if he was already declaring defeat.

            “You don’t know that,” I tried cheering him up, “I think you at least know one recipe you can whip up well that would taste even better than any type of meat.”

            With that, he finally looked back at me. This time with those honey colored eyes wide open.

            “You really think that [First]?”

            “Of course Jean. I’ve been friends with you long enough to know that you’re pretty smart when you want to be and there’s no doubt that you could pull off a win tonight if you applied yourself.”

            I smiled at the boy, who continued to look very shocked that I said all that about him. What I said was true though. Jean’s always been really smart, but since he’s mostly arrogant all the time, it’s sometimes hard to remember. I believed in him though.

            “Thank you,” he smiled slightly at me before patting my head.

            “No problem. Now let’s get some supper. You can mull over some ideas and we can try cooking them later on if you want to,” I motioned towards the Garrison’s mess hall, then turned towards Annie and Armin, “You two guys.”

            And with that, the four of us began to make our way to get out the streets to get some grub for the night before we got back to work. Hopefully we can come up with a great idea that might actually help Jean win the cook-off that was only a few hours away.

* * *

 

            During dinner, I decided to sit with Marco since I’ve barely been able to see him today. I thought it was good to give Jean some space too so that he could come up with a new plan. He had been cooped up with Armin, Annie, and I pretty much all day as well, so I figured he could use the space.

            “So [First], how’s Jean been doing with the cook-off?” Marco asked me after he had swallowed a bite of his food, “I haven’t really had the chance to talk to him about it.”

            “Well…” I started, “He originally wanted that boar that Sasha killed and we tried to help him, but that didn’t happen, so now he should be working on coming up with another idea to try. I told him I’d help out in any way possible, but I won’t cook it for him. Other than that though, I think Jean still has a good chance of winning. I’m sure if he applied himself, he could whip up something even more delicious than boar meat and win tonight.”

            The freckled boy smiled, “I believe he can too. Jean’s never been one to back down easily and it’s really good that he’s got your help as well. You know, I’ve noticed that you two really do well when you’re together.”

            Despite knowing what Marco was hinting on, I decided to act confused to mask my embarrassment. “What are you implying Marco?” I questioned.

            My best friend was just about to answer me when suddenly one of the Garrison soldiers yelled loudly to get everyone’s attention.

            “Is Jean Kirschtein here?”

            Marco and I stopped talking to look over in Jean’s direction. He got up from his bench and made his way over to where the soldier who had called for him was standing.

            “I am he, sir!” Jean saluted.

            “Your mother is here to see you,” the soldier informed him, causing Jean to gape at him. Marco and I exchanged surprise faces as well. That was actually nice of his mom to come out here to visit him.

            A moment later, a middle-aged woman with brunette hair walked into the mess hall, carrying a basket that seemed quit full and heavy. The look on her round face seemed to be of worry as she walked up to Jean and placed a hand upon his chest.

            “Mom?” Jean seemed very shocked to see her here.

            “Jeanbo! Why haven’t you come home yet? Mrs. Wagner’s little boy, Thomas, has already come home. You really are a problem child,” she reprimanded as she looked over her son, “Did you spill something on yourself? It looks like soup…”

            Mrs. Kirschtein reached down to wipe away at Jean’s pants, which he apparently did spill something on them, but Jean yelled at her.

            “Stop that!”

            The room suddenly became silent.

            “But Jean-“

            “It’s fine! Just go home already!” the boy yelled at her as he pushed his mother away from him. That made my eyes widen. Why is he being so rude to her? She was only trying to help…

            The woman continued to put on a smile as she reached into her basket and began to pull out apples to place on the table, “Well then, I brought these for everyone-“

            “You don’t need to do this!” Jean yelled again as he knocked the apples in the floor. Luckily, Eren Jaeger was right beside him and picked up the apples.

            “Jeanbo!” Mrs. Kirschtein exclaimed in shock, but then turned away to address the other cadets, “I know he’s a problem child, but can everyone please be friends with him?”

            Jean looked down in embarrassment while his mother seemed disappointed at him, but then she reached in her basket again for something.

            “Oh, I almost forgot! Jeabo, I brought your favorite-“

            “JUST GO HOME!” Jean shrieked as he pushed his mother out of the mess hall and slammed the door. I was so utterly appalled that he had just done that to his mother that I jumped up out of my seat and made my way over to him. Jean was still glaring when I made it to him, but his expression changed quickly when my right arm drew back. Without putting much thought into it, I slapped Jean across the face and then ran out the mess hall to see if I could try to catch up to his mom to talk to her.

            “Mrs. Kirschtein!” I yelled down the hall, “Mrs. Kirschtein! Wait!”

            The woman heard me and stopped so that I could reach her. She seemed a bit shocked that I was coming to talk to her.

            “Hello ma’am. My name’s [First] [Last],” I introduced myself as I held out my right hand to her, “I’m one of Jean’s friends and I just wanted to apologize for his behavior towards you tonight. He’s been really stressed out lately and he been in a bad mood pretty much all day, so please don’t take this too personal.”  
            Jean’s mom continued to look at me in bewilderment for a moment just before she smiled brightly at me and shook my hand.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you [First]!” she replied cheerily, “And it’s really sweet of you to stick up for my son like that. It’s alright though. My Jeanbo has always been a bit troubling, so I’m used to it by now. I was hoping the military training would straighten him out a bit more, but I guess that’s just wishful thinking…”

            “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” I told her, “I think he’s changed a bit from when we first started out. I know he hates when I talk about it, but Jean can be a pretty amazing leader when given the chance. He’s smart, thoughtful, and honest. At least he is around people he gets along with,” I chuckled a bit. “I believe you’ve just caught him on a bad day today.”

            Mrs. Kirschtein grinned at me, “You must be around him a lot to know all of this.”

            “For the most part, I am. Jean and our other friend pretty much stick together most of the time since we hope to end up going to the MPs later on.”

             “Well I’m glad to hear that. It’s good to know my son will be in good hands once he’s far away from me in the interior. Hopefully by then, your sweetness will rub off on him.”

            I laughed, “Maybe.”

            “Well I know I’m taking away from your break time, so I won’t keep you too much longer, but take these apples for you and the rest of the cadets,” the woman handed me her basket full of apples as she took out a tin that she had with it, “In here’s an omelet for Jean, but I’ll give it to him later. You know, that’s his favorite. Ever since he was little, he’d always get excited when I fixed him one.”

            “That’s so cute,” I smiled, “Thank you so much Mrs. Kirschtein.”

            “You’re welcome and thank you as well. I’m glad to know that my boy is friends with such a sweet young lady,” Mrs. Kirschtein said to me. I felt quite flattered that she thought that about me. I thanked her again for everything before parting ways and walking back into the mess hall, where everything was still eerily quiet and all eyes were trained on me.

            “Here’s apples for us all, courtesy of Mrs. Kirschtein,” I said as I placed the basket on one of the tables. Still everyone stayed silent and still except for one young man with two-toned hair.

            “Why the hell did you bring that in here?” Jean snarled as he approached me.

            “Because your mother wanted me to,” I growled back, “You know, your mom is a nice woman. I can’t believe what you did to her earlier in front of us all.”

            “What’s it matter to you?”

            “You know, most of us would kill to have our mothers come in for a visit, bring us our favorite meal, and even food for our friends,” I told him with a glare.

            Jean was just about to retort back, but Marco cut him off.

            “Jean, don’t!” he warned seriously. He must have known where this was going.

            “Stay out of this Marco!” Jean hissed before turning back to me, “You know what [First]? You say I need to treat my mom nicer, well I don’t see you doing anything for yours! All these years we’ve been training and you’ve never sent any letters or left for any visits. Hell, I don’t think you’ve even mentioned her at all this entire time. At least, I don’t treat my mom like she doesn’t fucking exist!”

            For this whole entire time, I tried to keep my emotions in check and memories suppressed, but as soon as those words have left the mouth of that arrogant prick, something snapped within me and everything I was holding back rushed to the surface.

            “Do you really want to know why I don’t talk about my mother Jean? Do you? Well, aren’t you in for a treat,” I grinned bitterly, “Let’s go back a good four years when it was just my mom, my dad, and me on a lovely vacation in Shiganshina to visit my uncle and his family. It was such a beautiful day and I was enjoying playing with my cousins while my parents socialized with my uncle and aunt. Everything was perfect until the Colossal Titan kicked a hole into the wall and the titans invaded the district…”

            “[First], please!” I heard Marco say as he got up from his chair, “You don’t have to do this!”

            I raised my hand up in his direction and he stopped right in his place. I then continued on with my story with my eyes locked on Jean’s golden ones that were widening by the second, “One eight meter titan was successful in squashing my uncle’s entire family right in front of my eyes and their entrails were dragged across the whole area,” I felt the tears finally start to come and trail down my face, “Apparently while we were trying to make our escape, the Armored Titan thought it would be nice to pick that very same area to plow down Wall Maria and with our great luck, Mom and Dad happened to be in its path and were immediately killed right then and there. So Jean, now you and everyone else here knows why I don’t visit Jinae or write any letters back home to my mother. IT’S BECAUSE MY MOM IS FUCKING DEAD, YOU ASSHOLE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?”

            As soon as I screamed that, I didn’t even bother to look at anyone else. I just ran as fast as I could out of there and down the corridors to the temporary dorms. Once I reached my bed, I just curled up into a ball and buried my face into my thighs to sob. Damn Jean! I hate having to bring up my parents’ death, especially in front of everyone like that. Why the fuck did I have to have feelings for that prick? God, I hate my life. I should have died all those years ago along with them…

            It was probably about thirty minutes later before I noticed the presence of someone else in the dorm with me and I looked up to find my freckled best friend looking very concerned in the doorway. When our eyes met, Marco took the liberty to walk on over and sit beside me.

            “You know, you put on quite a show in there,” Marco told me as he wrapped his arm around my waist, “I always knew you were a heartbreaker, but you literally distressed half of the trainees.”

            “I only care if one of them is distressed,” I whimpered into my knees.

            “Well, you got the job done. Jean’s the most upset out of everyone right now. He thinks you’re gonna stop being friends with him.”

            “Well, I just might. He shouldn’t have said things like that to me if he valued our friendship that much.”

            Marco sighed, “It’s true that what Jean said to you was wrong, but do you really think you could just avoid him the rest of your life? I know you have feeling for him.”

            I raised my head up from my knees and looked over at my best friend, “What the hell are you talking about Marco?”

            “Don’t act all shocked [First]. We’ve known each other most of our lives now and I think I can tell by now if my best friend likes my other best friend. Your eyes light up whenever he’s around, you smile every time he sits beside you in the mess hall, and you look so jealous if you catch him praising Mikasa. Now that I think about it, it’s honestly not hard to see that you like Jean…”

            “Don’t talk about that so loud Marco!” I fussed, “Alright, there may be a chance that your accusation is true, but it’s not like I’ll ever get those feelings returned. I’m nothing compared to Mikasa. It doesn’t even matter though because I don’t like him right now.”

            “Now I wouldn’t say that,” my best friend looked at me like he knew something I didn’t and slightly smiled, “I’m serious though, I don’t think avoiding him would be good for either one of you. If Jean apologizes, please forgive him. He may not show it much, but he really does like having you around and he hardly has anyone else he’s close friends with. He really does care for you and you know how he doesn’t think straight when he gets angry. At least forgive him for me, if nothing else. I can’t have my two best friends hating each other.”

            “Alright…I guess I’ll think about it if Jean decides to apologize nicely to me,” I resigned, making Marco grin happily and pull me closer to him.

            “You’re the best!” he praised as he snuggled up against me like he used to when we were little.

            Despite being comforted by Marco, I still was upset because of the memory of the day I lost my parents was still fresh in mind. I didn’t think Marco knew that I was crying again until a few of my tears ended up falling down my cheeks and landed against his arm.

            “[First]?” Marco lifted his hand up to wipe my cheeks and then tilted my head up so that I was looking at his worried face, “What’s wrong now?”

            I looked at him with blurry eyes for a moment before I rested my head against his shoulder, “I just really miss Mom and Dad. I try not to think about it too much, but it still hurts just as bad as it used to.”

            “I understand. Death is inevitable thing we all have to go through, but you’re not the only one who suffers from losing their loved ones. You don’t have to keep it bottled inside you, you know. You have me, you can talk to Armin, Eren, and Mikasa as well since they lost their parents, and I know you don’t want to hear it right now, but Jean would help you as well. Isn’t that right, Jean?” Marco turned his head to look at the door. My gaze followed his and sure enough, standing in the door was Jean. He seemed to look pretty distraught and he somehow couldn’t take his eyes off me. When the hell did he get there?

            “Yeah,” Jean answered nervously, as if he was scared to say the wrong thing. When I didn’t lash out at him, he took it as an opportunity to sit down on the other side of me before he asked, “Are you alright?”

            I nodded slowly as I brought the back of my hand up to wipe away my tears. By this time, Marco gave me one more squeeze before he stood up from the bed.

            “I’m gonna go so that you two can talk,” he told us before walking over to the door, “See you later Jean.”

            Marco shut the door behind him as he left and then I was left in silence with the boy that made me start crying in the first place. We stared at each other for a few seconds before Jean looked down at his lap.

            “[First], I’m really sorry for what I said to you back there,” he apologized as he scratched behind his neck nervously, “I had no idea that you had gone through that and it was completely wrong of me to accuse you of not caring. I just assumed that since you came from Jinae, you never had to deal with death like that.”

            “Well, you know assuming just makes an ass out of you and me,” I stated, earning a chuckle from Jean.

            “And that’s exactly what I did back there,” the copper-haired boy grinned, but his expression became serious again, “I really mean it though, I am sorry. I should’ve kept my fucking mouth shut and listened to Marco when he told me to stop. You were right in the first place. I really should be nicer to my mom.”

            “It’s partially my fault too,” I looked away when I felt another bout of tear coming up again, “I didn’t want to be known as just another orphan around here so I kept it to myself. If I at least told you, we wouldn’t be in this predicament at all.”

            “Hey now, don’t start crying!” Jean seemed like he was starting to get frantic, “It’s not your fault at all and I was the one who was being a dick! Please, just don’t cry. I don’t like seeing you this way.”

            I tried to wipe my tears away again before replying, “I’m trying not to. I’m sorry.”

            While I was busy rubbing my eyes, I heard Jean sigh and I noticed the weight of the bed shift. Suddenly, two calloused hands circled my wrists, lifted me up to my feet, and then pulled me into a firm chest while strong arms wrapped around my shoulders. At first I was stunned from shock, but it didn’t take long for my arms to wrap around Jean’s slim waist and bury my face into the crook of his neck as he pulled me close. In our hug, I breathed in his masculine scent and I seemed to melt in his embrace. He smelled a lot different than Marco. It was a good different though, like calming, woodsy smell, and it seemed to comfort me pretty quickly.

            “I hope we can still be friends [First]. I hate knowing you’re mad at me and I’m making you this upset,” Jean told me.

            “Why?” I questioned him back with my voice still thick from crying. He seemed to tense up and hesitate on that question for a moment, but I knew that Jean was not going to leave that question unanswered. He’s way too honest to do that.

            When he finally decided to talk again, he replied, “Because I enjoy having you around and I honestly don’t know what I would do without your help if you ever decide to quit on me. You and Marco are the only friends I got and I’ll be damned if I did anything to lose what I have with you. That’s why I honestly regret what I did earlier. I wish I had more control of my mouth and I would have never hurt you this way.”

            Jean’s words made me start to blush and I tried to get myself to think straight long enough to give him an answer. Truth be told, I had already forgiven him when he first apologized. Needless to say, I was ecstatic in a way that he thought highly of me, but a part of me worried if close friends is all we’ll ever be.

            When I finally found my words, I told Jean, “I forgive you. I really need you in my life and it would suck I didn’t have you around. Honestly, you and Marco are all I have left and it would be idiotic to stop being friends with you,” I hugged him tighter and then whispered, “You mean too much to me Jean.”

            With that, I could have sworn that Jean’s breath hitched in his throat just before he squeezed me back and whispered to me, “Thank you.”

            We stayed in each other’s arms for a minute more until I stopped crying and Jean pulled away to break our hug. Apparently, it was getting too embarrassing for him to keep holding me because he couldn’t keep eye contact with me again. Damn, I already was starting to miss his warmth. Maybe I’ll get an excuse to hug him again soon…. Ugh, this crush is getting worse.

            “So did you figure out what you were going to do for the cook-off yet?” I asked Jean to get my thoughts on a different subject and ease a bit of the tension in the room.

            “I think I’ve got a good idea, but I don’t really have anyone to help me anymore. Armin got hurt and Annie just quit on me,” he replied, a bit agitatedly.

            “Well, since I’m still on your squad, I’ll help you out,” I smiled up at him.

            “Really?” beamed Jean.

            “Yeah, why not? You’re my best friend _Jeanbo._ ”

            His happy mood deflated quickly as he furrowed his brows at me, “Don’t you start calling me that now! I’m not a little boy!”

            I couldn’t help but to laugh and lightly punch his shoulder, “Lighten up, will you? I’m just teasing. Now tell me about what you plan on cooking.”

            Jean seemed to calm down again just before guiding me out of my room and leading me down to the kitchens. While we were walking, he told me all about what he planned on whipping up for the competition and asked me if I would taste-test it for him before he made the final dish for Commander Pixis. I didn’t mind doing that so I agreed to help him out. Hopefully whatever Jean was going to fix would be good enough to win against meat tonight.

* * *

 

            After watching a certain copper-haired male dart around the kitchen for a good fifteen minutes, he finally seemed to have created something edible and served it to me on a plate.

            “Bon appétit!” Jean smiled as he handed me the dish.

            “Is that an omelet?” I asked as I peered upon the concoction.

            “Yeah. I fixed it the way Mom does it since that’s my favorite. I don’t know if it’s better than boar meat, but it’s the best recipe that I know.”

            “Well, it looks and smells pretty good.”

            “Here,” he handed me a fork, “Go ahead and try it.”

            I took the fork and cut off a bite-sized piece of the omelet before I put it in my mouth. As I chewed the egg, the first thing I noticed was that it was cooked thoroughly and evenly. Then the flavor of the omelet hit me and my taste buds completely melted. This had to be the best tasting omelet I’ve ever had!

            “Holy shit!” I exclaimed as I took another bite, “Jean, this is so good!”

            He smirked at me before asking, “Is it good enough for the cook-off?”

            “Hell yeah! This has to beat the boar meat as long as you cook it just like this again. God Jean, you need to cook more. This is delicious…”

            Jean seemed to be quite amused as I continued to devour the omelet he had fixed for me. It was so much better than the gruel we normally have to eat and I missed having good food. I tried to make it last as long as I could, but ended up finishing the omelet within a few minutes. I know now that I’m going to have to try to get Jean to cook more sometime. There’s no way I’m going to let him waste this talent.

            “I’m serious, you should cook more,” I told Jean after putting the plate in the sink.

            “Eh, but I don’t really feel like doing it unless I have to,” he replied.

            “C’mon, not even for me?” I playfully batted my eyes at him.

            “You’re a girl, you should know how to cook!” Jean fussed, but then he realized what he said and backtracked, “Shit, I didn’t mean to say it that way!”

            “It’s ok Jean,” I sighed, “I know what you meant to say and yes I do know how. My mom and Marco’s mom have shown me some things throughout the years, but I know I can’t make an omelet taste as good as you can.”

            “Well if you like them so much, I guess I can whip up another one for you when your birthday rolls around again.”

            “You mean it?” I beamed, making Jean chuckle.

            “I promise.”

            After he said that, I just couldn’t stop smiling at my tawny-haired friend, “You’re the best Jean.”

            “I know,” he smugly replied.

* * *

 

            When it was only an hour before the contest, Jean was back in the kitchen and aggressively cooking up another delicious omelet for the cook-off. By this time, Annie and Armin decided to come watch just to see how he had been doing since they decided to quit on him. In the other kitchen, there were loud cries about meat going on that we only guessed came from Sasha getting really hyped about cooking the boar meat. I just hope Jean can pull off the win tonight, because I do not want to have to deal with him being in a foul mood forever. He’s definitely going to be crushed if he doesn’t win.

            After watching Jean cook intently for a few minutes, Armin decided to come over to where I was standing. Well technically, he limped over to me since his leg was still hurt from earlier. He looked like he wanted to talk, so I turned my attention from Jean to him for a moment.

            “Did he ever apologize for earlier?” Armin asked me once he made it over to my side.

            “Yeah. Things are good between us,” I answered.

            “That’s good. So I’m guessing Jean knows what he’s cooking for the competition, right?”

            “Yup. He’s whipping up an omelet.”

            “An omelet?” Armin questioned in disbelief, “Does he seriously think he’s going to win against Sasha’s boar meat with just an omelet?”

            “Hush Armin,” I shushed him, “That omelet isn’t just your ordinary omelet. He fixed me one as well and it was the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in the last five years probably. Jean’s got this in the bag.”

            “You really think so?”

            “Yeah,” I turned my attention back to Jean, “I believe he can win this.”

            Annie overheard the whole conversation so she didn’t even bother to ask me anything once Armin was quiet. The three of us continued to watch Jean labor over the stove and counter, trying to make that omelet the perfect one he has ever made. It took only ten minutes more before he had transferred the cooked egg to a plate and drizzled some tomato sauce upon it. I picked up the dish cover that was sitting on the counter and brought it over to him so that he could cover it up and keep it warm while we headed over to the town square for the cook-off in a few minutes. Jean placed his dish upon the metal cart that was in the kitchen and then turned to face us.

            “I think I’m ready now.”

* * *

 

            Out in the town circle, Annie, Armin, Jean, and I stood on the left side of the table where Commander Dot Pixis was sitting. On the right, Connie, Reiner, and Sasha stood, giving us all smirks as Sasha had her dish ready to serve. Despite knowing that she must have cooked a rare and delicious meal, Jean stood confidently by my side with his own dish in front of him. The crowd in front of us was filled with cadets of the 104th trainee squad and members of the Garrison regiment as well. They were anticipating the results of the cook-off almost just as much as we were.

            “It looks like both of you have brought your A-game to this contest,” Pixis said after observing Jean and Sasha.

            Instructor Keith Shadis then announced, “We will now commence the cook-off between the 104th Squad Members, Jean Kirschtein and Sasha Braus!”

            The whole crowd in front of us burst into cheers and threw their fists up in the air in merriment.

            “The first dish of tonight,” continued the Instructor, “will be from Sasha Braus!”

            “Yes sir!” Sasha called out as she pushed her cart forward to the table where the commander was sitting. Once she reached the table, the girl placed her dish in front of Pixis and uncovered the plate, “Bon appétit!”

            In front of Commander Pixis was a nice sized, juicy piece of boar meat that was wafting a delicious steam into the air. The crowd around us immediately was struck with awe as they realized that Sasha had served meat. There were people talking of how she definitely was going to win the competition and they were saying that there was no way Jean could beat a piece of meat cooked that perfectly.

            Jean had tensed up in anger and I reached over to grab his sleeve to get his attention.

            “Don’t worry about what they say,” I whispered to him, “Pixis’ opinion is what matters.”

            He seemed to calm down a bit from my words and then kept a close eye upon the Garrison’s commander. We watched as he cut off a bit of the cooked meat and placed it in his mouth. As he chewed, Pixis’ eyes widened like he was having a religious experience from the food, making me feel a little nervous for Jean. Across the stage, Sasha, Connie, and Reiner were whispering back and forth to each other and smirking even more than they were before. Then Sasha called out, “It’s your turn now Jean!”

            Jean looked back at Annie, Armin, and I for encouragement and we all nodded back at him, giving him a silent assurance from us that we believed in him. With that, he put on a poker face and began to stride forward towards Commander Pixis to deliver his dish.

            “Bon appétit,” Jean said as he uncovered the omelet in front of the Garrison’s leader. As soon as the meal was in view, everyone’s eyes widened in shock. The crowd started whispering again, saying things about the omelet that Jean had cooked and how there was no way he was going to win with a simple omelet compared to Sasha’s boar meat.

            “Well, isn’t this a cute little thing?” Pixis said as he loomed over the plate of food.

            “Please,” Jean encouraged him, “Have a taste.”

            With that, the Garrison’s commander cut off a bite of the omelet and began to bring it towards his mouth. We stood there nervously as we waited to see him eat the egg and see his reaction to Jean’s cooking. Calmly, Pixis sat there at the table and ate as if no one was around to watch him. He continued to eat this way until he had finished the omelet and then still stayed stock still in his chair.

            From across the stage, Connie whispered rather loudly, “The commander isn’t saying anything.”

            “That means victory is ours!” Reiner said back in a hushed voice.

            Sasha smiled, “Yes! There’s nothing in the world that tastes better than meat!”

            I didn’t realize that I was glaring at the three of them until Armin nudged me with his elbow to get me to stop it before I got on their bad side. By this time, Pixis had stood up from his chair to declare something, so all of our attention became directed to him.

            “I will now make my decision,” Commander Pixis announced, “The winner of this contest is… Jean Kirschtein!”

            Everything was silent for a length of a heartbeat until so many things happened instantaneously. Sasha and her whole squad’s mouths dropped from shock as the entire audience burst into cheers for Jean. Speaking of Jean, he was stunned as well that he actually had won the cook-off and he didn’t move until Armin laid a hand upon his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. Once I got over the shock myself, I ran up to Jean and threw my arms around his neck to hug him.

            “You did it!” I congratulated him, though he seemed shocked from the win and that I had just leaped upon him, “I knew you would win with that omelet!”

            “Thanks [First],” he smiled back at me as he finally got over his shock and wrapped his arms around my waist to hug me back, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

            “Yes you could have. You cooked your own recipe.”

            “You encouraged me to do it though and that helped the most,” Jean told me, “Thanks for still sticking with me when everyone else bailed. You’re the best.”

            With that, I gave him another squeeze, “You’re welcome.”

            We stayed within our embrace for a moment longer until we heard the shrill voice of an angered Sasha pierce through all the cheers. Jumping apart quickly, we both turned to her to see what was going on.

            “I cannot accept this!” she yelled at Commander Pixis as she slammed her hands down against the table, “Why did the meat lose?”

            “Listen,” spoke the old man, “What exactly is meat?”

            “Meat is meat!” she answered.

            “Exactly, Meat is meat. It is nothing more and nothing less, just simply meat. That is why you lost.”

            With the realization of that, Sasha had tears streaming down her face as she broke out into sobs about what she should have done to make her meal better. I felt bad for the girl as she crumpled to the ground. I guess this loss hurt her pride since she loved food so much. Not only that, she came from Dauper Village, which was mostly known well for their meat because they had great hunting skills.

            Suddenly, Jean stepped forward towards Sasha, held out his hand to her, and said, “There’s no need to be upset and embarrassed. You aren’t the only one who just roasted their dish.”

            With that, Sasha looked up at Jean with wide eyes. Then she apologized as she took his hand, “I’m sorry Jean for all that I did.”

            My friend helped lift her up off the ground, “It’s fine.”

            By this time, Connie and Reiner also walked up to where Jean and Sasha were at and gave their apologies as well. I was glad to see that there were no hard feelings against our comrades now that Jean and the others have made up. While those four were talking to each other, I felt the presence of two other people walking up to me.

            “So, Jean…” Annie said right beside me straight out of the blue.

            “What about him?” I questioned.

            “You like him,” she pointed out.

            Jesus, is it that obvious?!? Why is everyone accusing me of this all of a sudden?

            Trying to not blush from embarrassment, I replied, “Yeah, as a friend.”

            “She meant that you have a crush on him,” Armin piped up on the other side of me.

            “Well, I don’t know where you got that idea from.”

            “Why don’t you tell him?” Annie asked, completely ignoring what I just said, “Everyone knows that you care a lot for Jean, [First].”

            “There’s nothing to tell. Jean’s hell bent on Mikasa. Anyways, it’s ill-advised to have deep relationships in the army.”

            “We all know that you and Jean will be safe within the interior once we graduate,” Armin pointed out to me, “There’s no point of using that as an excuse since you won’t be dealing with titans.”

            “I’m not making excuses!” I fussed.

            “Excuses or not, you know that regret is one of the worst feelings to get when you’re older.”

            “What are you talking about Armin?”

            “What Armin means is that one day, there might be another girl like Mikasa that catches Jean’s eye and this time she returns his affection. If this happens, you’re gonna regret not telling him about your feelings while you had the chance,” explained the blonde girl to my right, “Most girls don’t want their boyfriends talking to any other girl, despite him being completely platonic to his girl best friend. Before you know it, Jean’s new girl will forbid him from even looking at you and you’d lose your best friend altogether. I don’t think you want that to happen, so I suggest you do something to change it before we graduate.”

            I haven’t really given that much thought, but what Annie said to me was true. Most girls in relationships get jealous of any other girl who even talks to their boyfriend and if Jean ever got a girlfriend who didn’t like me, I’d definitely be out of the picture. I didn’t want that to happen at all, but I just can’t confess my feelings straight to him while he’s still fawning over Mikasa. It could ruin our friendship as well, but I don’t think that Jean is one of those guys who would immediately start avoiding me afterwards. Well, there’s still about ten months left until we graduate from training so I have plenty of time to think about what I’ll do about my predicament.

            “So now do you see what we’re trying to tell you?” Armin asked.

            “Yeah I do,” I replied. “I know you both mean well and all, but I have my reasons of what I tell others and what I keep to myself. If the opportunity presents itself, then I’ll act upon it, but until then, I’m content with everything.”

            “That’s fair enough,” Annie said, apathetically as usual.

            Just then, Jean had finished talking with the others and started to walk back towards me with a smile upon his face, “Hey [First].”

            “Hm?”

            “I wanna go celebrate my victory now,” he told me as he slung an arm over my shoulders, “Let’s go grab Marco and hit up some joint.”

            “What about sleeping? We’ve been up all night getting ready for this cook-off.”

            “Sleep is for the weak. I wanna have some fucking fun after all my hard work!”

            I couldn’t help but to shake my head at this loser I adored, “Alright, but we can’t stay out too long, ok?”

            “Ok,” Jean then looked back over his shoulder to Annie and Armin, “You two can join us if you want.”

            “We’ll pass this time,” Armin replied as he eyed Jean and I and smirked, “But you guys have fun tonight.”

            Of course that kid was trying to imply to me that we looked like a good couple. God, if the whole 104th hears about this, I’ll die. Yup, just croak right then and there.

            “Thanks Armin. We will!” Jean told the blond boy just before facing forward and guiding me out in the crowd to look for our freckled friend. Despite the day being all topsy-turvy with my emotions and events that went on, all was well in the end. I just couldn’t shake off the feeling of worry for the future now that Annie and Armin implanted those thoughts of possibly losing Jean into my head. I guess all I could do right now is enjoy my time with him and pray that something good will happen that won’t keep us apart. After all, a lot can happen within ten months. I’ll just have to keep my eyes wide open and see what life brings my way.


End file.
